GOD AND SALVATION

God Has Joined Himself to the Universe

In Matthew 19 we have recorded an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees concerning the marriage relationship, and in Matthew 19:6, Jesus said, So that they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. This is true in the marriage relationship but it’s also true in other relationships involving God.

We are going to look at the fact that God has joined himself to the universe. By that we mean we may see God in creation. We may know of the existence of God. The Bible affirms this. In Romans 1:18-20, the apostle Paul wrote, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hinder the truth in unrighteousness; because that which is known of God is manifest in them; for God manifested it unto them. For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse… Long ago the Psalmist declared in Psalm 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, And night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language; Their voice is not heard. Acts 14:17 says, And yet He left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.

The atheist tries to separate God from the universe by telling us this universe is here by mere chance, by organic evolution. But the universe cries out in response, saying, “God is!” There is abundant evidence of God’s creation, or of God’s existence in creation.

We are going to look at three valid arguments for the existence of God. The first is the argument from morality. What we mean by this is that man is a spiritual being with spiritual needs. He has a moral conscience which urges him to do that which he thinks is right. Mere matter is not moral. This desk is mere matter. It has absolutely no morality. Therefore, man’s sense of right and wrong must have come from morality itself, from intelligence. It must have come from God.

All men have the urge to choose right and wrong. The conscience of man compels man to do what he thinks is right. When he doesn’t follow his conscience, from whence does his capacity to feel guilt come? Where does it originate? It originates with God! Now, man’s conscience may be wrongly trained, or wrongly educated, but that’s not the point. The point is, there is a sense of morality. Man can lose that through hardening his conscience. His conscience can become seared (as the Bible says) as with a hot iron, or defiled. But, he was not created that way. There is a sense of morality.

The pure materialist cannot explain conscience. Animals do not have it. When a dog bites you he does not crawl off if scolded and spend time in remorse and grief over what he’s done to you. In fact, chances are, if you don’t get out of his way, he’ll bite you again. Animals don’t have the capacity to feel guilt, but man does. Thus, man is a moral being, created in the image of God. In Genesis 1:26, God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, not a physical likeness, but a spiritual likeness, a moral likeness, with morality, with personality. We are different. God created us that way.

An easy way to remember this argument for God’s existence is to just simply think of guilt. If we think of the name of God, the “G” might remind us of the guilt that God has given us the capacity to feel. That is a great blessing. Someone might ask, “Is it a blessing to feel guilt?” It is, indeed, if the guilt is based upon a knowledge of doing that which God has told us not to do. Thus, when we feel guilt, we have a way of escaping that guilt by turning to God through Jesus Christ. That produces gratitude. Once the guilt of sin has been removed, gratitude replaces it. Guilt is a blessing if it causes us indeed to do the right thing by turning to God.

A second argument for the existence of God is called the cosmological argument. The word “cosmos” is a word that means “order.” When we talk about this cosmos we mean the universe. The cosmological argument is based upon the orderly arrangement of things and the fact that orderly arrangement is here. It is an effect which demands an adequate cause. Every effect demands an adequate cause. This desk again, using it as an illustration, is an effect. It demands a cause. What’s an adequate cause for this effect? Did it just come into being by itself, perhaps, by an explosion that occurred and this was the result? That’s not an adequate cause, that’s not logical. Someone made it. So, there must be an adequate cause for this cosmos, this universe in which we live.

The cosmos is an effect produced by a primal cause, which from the very nature of the case must be a person. There’s too much order here for anything else to be truth. Did order come from disorder? No. Thomas Aquinas was the first to formalize this argument in modern philosophy. Aquinas said: “That which does not exist begins to exist only through something already existing. Therefore, if at one time nothing was in existence, it would have been impossible for anything to have begun to exist. And, thus, even now nothing would be in existence, which is absurd.” Simply stated, something cannot come from nothing but something exists; therefore, something has always existed. Now, can this something be mere matter? No. The cause of anything must have the qualities of that which is caused and more, even greater, qualities. What are these qualities then? They would have to be qualities of being, qualities of personality, not just qualities of mere substance or matter. God created rocks, does that mean that God is a rock? No, He has to have qualities greater than the rock. He created mind and personality and volition. He must have these qualities and He does.

This universe exhibits order. This is the very meaning of cosmos. But, can order come from disorder? Can a rational being come from an irrational being? But, a rational being exists, therefore, a rational being has always existed. That rational being is the Supreme being, God Almighty.

An easy way to remember this argument is to think of order. The “G” in “GOD,” we’re saying, represents “GUILT.” The “O” now represents “ORDER.” So, as we think of the name of God, thus far we have the guilt, the great blessing to feel guilt, a capacity to feel that animals do not have; then, order, the cause to effect argument, or the argument from order, the cosmological argument.

The third argument is the teleological argument. We might just call it the argument from design because that’s what is involved. This argument complements, really, and adds to the cosmological argument. It calls attention to the interrelation of the parts of the universe to produce something that is good. Remember, the cosmological argument, the argument from cause to effect, demands a cause for the order of things now in existence. The teleological argument, or the argument from design, simply says this order of things was so designed with some purpose. So, these two arguments go hand in hand. William Paley set forth this argument back in the 18th century.

The creation shows the glory of God. Hear what the Psalmist declares in Psalm 8:1, O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens.”

There are so many examples of design in this universe. The earth orbits around the sun. But in so doing, it departs from a straight line by only one ninth of an inch (2.8 mm) every 18 miles (29 km). Let’s say that in its orbit around the sun the earth deviated by one 10th of an inch (2.5 mm) or by one eighth of an inch (3.2 mm)—just that much either way, what would happen? We would burn to death because we would be that much closer in the orbit, or we would freeze to death because we’d be that much farther away. Just that much deviation would bring death by freezing or death by burning.

The distance of the sun from the earth is 93 million miles (150,000,000 km). Let’s say that we increase that distance by 10%, what happens? We freeze. Let’s lessen that distance by 10%. We burn up. Just 10%! Chance? It shows design, doesn’t it?

Look at the moon, 231,000 miles (372,000 km) from earth. Move it in by one fifth of that distance, what would happen? Twice a day there would be tidal waves over most of the earth of between 35 feet (11 m) and 50 feet (15 m) high.

The human body is one of the most marvelous examples of design in existence. It is made up of some 100 trillion cells, some so small that it would take over 6,000 laid end to end to cover one inch (25 mm), yet, each cell intricate and complex to the extreme. Each cell has 46 chromosomes, each containing DNA which determines the hereditary traits. These traits are locked into the DNA structure of every cell.

How do the cells in the human brain work? A man by the of W. Gray Walter, a British neurophysicist, stated that it would take 10 billion electronic cells, occupying the space of about one and a half million cubic feet (42,000 m³), to build a facsimile of the human brain. There is no question that God is responsible for the design of the human brain.

Charles Darwin, the author of The Origin of Species, an evolutionist, said of the human eye, “The eye with all its inimitable contrivances could have been formed by natural selection, seems (I freely confess) absurd in the highest degree.” He further stated, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous successive modification, my theory would absolutely break down.” But his theory has absolutely broken down, and every other theory of evolution breaks down in the face of such intricacy of design. The eye has one hundred and seven million cells with seven million cones allowing sight in full color; one hundred million rods allowing sight in blacks, whites and grays. The eyes are connected to the brain by over 300,000 nerves and can detect light as dim as one, one-hundred trillionth of a watt. How could it have evolved? It could not.

What “intermediate state” between no eye at all and a perfect eye could nature have “selected” to be passed on to successive generations? It’s an impossibility. As the Psalmist declared, I will give thanks unto thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well (Psalm 139:14).

If only every soul knew well the works of God, and if man would start attributing the works of creation to the Father above, rather than to some mythical mother nature! God the Father created all things. Design gives evidence of such. An easy way to remember this teleological argument is to think about design and let the “D” in “GOD” represent design.

God has joined himself to this universe, what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. No wonder the Psalmist declared in Psalm 14:1, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works; There is none that doeth good. Yes, the writer of Job says in Job 12:7-9, But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; And the birds of the heavens, and they shall tell thee: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee; And the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee. Who knoweth not in all these, That the hand of Jehovah hath wrought this…?

We should see from creation itself that evolution is an impossibility, that creation is the only logical answer, and that truly the Bible is right when it tells us in its very first words, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

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